bike culture blogged

The Redhook section of Brooklyn is a vital ecosystem for the cycling community. One of the country’s best crit series is run in Redhook, the coffee roasters Stumptown (which my own coffee shop uses) and Brooklyn Roasting Company is right around the corner.

Also in Redhook is Gage+Desoto, which is part design firm, part bicycle fan store and part bike scene. And they got clobbered in Sandy, albeit not as hard as some other folks. (As they say on their blog “While we moved everything as high off the floor as we could, Sandy bested us by a few crucial inches. Needless to say, tons of merchandise was damaged.”

The G+D folks are regular visitors at my shop, we’ve had a number of really nice conversations about cycling and about doing some work together, and I consider them friends.

Which is why I’m pretty stoked about the Gage+Desoto Redhook Recovery jersey. Available as a short sleeve men’s/women’s jersey or a long-sleeve winter jersey (men’s only) the jersey is a very limited edition, provided by Castelli.

As the order page explains

All profits from these jerseys will be split between the Red Hook Initiative (RHI) and Restore Red Hook (RRH). The RHI–an established community center–is operating as the critical organizer of relief efforts. Since then, Restore Red Hook has also been set up to help the many devastated small businesses of Red Hook reopen their doors as soon as possible.

Even if you’re not philanthropic you have to admit that this is one hot looking jersey. Sales end December 1, so jump on them while they last.